All Things Considered
by SunshineOwl
Summary: Victoire's hiding something, Fred's got something up his sleeve, and Lily has a secret. A good one. Multi-chapter Next Generation with frequent updates.
1. The Elephant in the Compartment

_For some reason, the email update says that Amy and Amycus are characters in this fic! I don't know why it says that, I'll get it fixed a.s.a.p. _

_Chapter One – The Elephant in the Compartment_

"Bloody hell, if I hear one more person shout, 'Look! Potter's kids! Weasley's kids!' I'll whiz their head off with a bludger!"

"I quite like the attention," said Hugo. "It's nice, don't you think?"

"You say that now, kid," Fred sighed, falling back into the seat. "We'll see if you've changed your mind in a week."

The compartment door slid open.

"Make way, make way! Ickle firsties and thirdsies coming through!" James called as he shoved in with Al and Lily.

"Potters!" Fred cried cheerfully. "Where've ya been?"

James puffed out his chest and ruffled his siblings' hair. "Oh, the usual. Had to show these two how to expertly evade the paparazzi."

"Shove off, there was no paparazzi," Al said playfully. Though only one year older, James was quite taller than Al, who had to duck and squirm to free himself from his brother's grip.

"So, Lily," Fred began in a business-like tone. "Has James told you about the giant horned crocodile at Hogwarts?" He leaned in and whispered importantly, "I heard they feed him first years!"

"Ha-ha. Daddy already told me not to believe any of your jokes," she smirked.

The compartment door opened once more as Dominique squeezed in. "Torturing the kids already, I see, Fred?"

"Oh no, you can't come in! We've already got six people!" he protested.

"Too bad, make room." She slid in next to Rose and Al. "Everywhere else's full."

"What, you don't want to go find _Stephen_? But I've heard he's so _dreamy_!"

"Shut it, bat brains!"

"She says that now, folks, but Louis told me they were sending owls _all_ summer!"

As Dominique lunged across the compartment to strangle Fred, James settled into his seat and gazed out the window. Green and yellow hills were rolling into the bright and open sky. It felt good to be back. It felt like home. James knew that Hogwarts was where he really belonged; it scared him to think what he would do when he left, but he had time to worry about that later. What was bothering him now was something totally different, something he just couldn't shake, but …

"Hellooo? Earth to Potter!?"

James looked over to find everyone staring at him.

"Are you even listening to this? Rose says the Cannons have a chance this year – I say rubbish! Don't you think?"

James faltered for a second before exclaiming, "Merlin's beard! Chudley? Your dad's finally getting to you!"

Dominique sighed. "You're such a doof. No one says 'Merlin's beard' anymore! That's something our parents said when they were kids!"

James grinned cheekily. "I'm bringing it back!"

Just like that, everyone started joking around again. _Just keep laughing_, James thought. _Maybe then I'll forget about it_. But as he glanced up, he saw Lily looking at him uneasily. He pretended not to notice. He would deal with it later.

* * *

_Thanks for much for reading the first chapter! There will be plenty more to come. Please leave a review, whether good or bad! I really appreciate any feedback._

_I thought I would give you a list of who is in which year for reference, so you don't get confused._

_Teddy Lupin – graduated_

_Victoire Weasley – 7__th__ year_

_Dominique and Fred Weasley – 6__th__ year_

_Roxanne Weasley – 5__th__ year_

_Lucy Weasley and James Potter – 4__th__ year_

_Rose and Molly Weasley, Albus Potter, and Scorpius Malfoy – 3__rd__ year_

_Louis Weasley – 2__nd__ Year_

_Lily Potter and Hugo Weasley – 1__st__ year_

_Also, a quick note. I know that the years might be a little off (i.e. Victoire is probably a year or so older), but I had to adjust it a little to smooth out the plot. My apologies, just use your imagination!_


	2. Mum's the Word

_Chapter Two – Mum's the Word_

After the Sorting (both Lily and Hugo made Gryffindor, of course) and the start of term banquet, everyone headed back to the common room. A fair amount of hushed gossip surrounded the Potters and Weasleys (who took up two couches, a love seat, and three chairs) as it did after every summer, but they ignored it, knowing it would stop in a few weeks when everyone else had something new to talk about. The only ones who weren't used to it anyway were Lily and Hugo, both of whom were fast asleep in an armchair. Roxanne and Al decided to take them up to bed, and one by one the group thinned as people stole off to the dorms. Those who remained chatted lazily about Quidditch, classes, and pranks. Only one person wasn't invested in the conversation.

Lucy leaned over to Victoire and poked her in the shoulder. "You okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I think I – I'm gonna head to bed."

As she left, Lucy glanced at Dominique for an explanation, but she just shrugged and became very interested with the hem of her skirt.

Meanwhile, in the third year dorm, Rose and Molly spilled over their schedules for the next day.

"So we have history and transfig in the morning, and …" Molly trailed off as she realized Rose wasn't listening. "Hey." She crawled over next to Rose. "Whatcha thinking about?"

Rose sighed. "Just, this year. I want it to be a good one, after this summer. Hugo's here; I've got to look out for him. And only two more years til our O.W.L.s…"

Molly laughed. "You are _so_ your mother."

"Tell me about it. And I mean… Well, I feel like this year is going to be important. I don't want to get distracted."

"Distracted? By what?"

"Well… Never mind. We should probably go to bed anyway. Goodnight."

"Night."

Molly put away their books, climbed into bed, and flicked off the light.

"You know," she said into the dark, "you really don't have to worry about Hugo." She waited for a reply. "He's got Lily. Plus, with all of us around, I really don't think he'll have a problem."

Silence. "Yeah. Thanks."

Molly rolled over and placed her glasses on the nightstand, wondering if this really had anything to do with O.W.L.s or Hugo at all.

* * *

"Y'know," Fred began, his mouth full of toast and covered in butter, "Hogwarts is a prestigious school for a variety of reasons." He counted on his (jam-covered) fingers: "The cozy mess hall, the noncompetitive sportsmanship, the vast selection of exotic women-"

"Please, Fred," Roxanne groaned. "It's too early for your sarcasm."

"-but I must say that the most outstanding of them all is the _food_."

James nodded in appreciation as he filled his face with bagels and marmalade.

"Honestly, sometimes I wonder whether you wake up with sugar in your blood or if you inject it!" Lily said to Fred.

The table erupted in sleepy laughter.

"This kid's a riot," Fred yelped, wiping buttery tears from his eyes. "Why don't we talk during lunch, you can teach me some new material."

"Careful, Lily," Al warned from behind a textbook. "You don't want to get too close to Fred or you'll wind up in detention by the end of the week."

"He speaks from experience," Roxanne put in as Al peered glumly over the edge of his book.

Lily smiled and returned to her cereal. The truth was that she was glad she was funny. With James the spitting image of their father and Al smart and good-natured, she was worried she would be stuck in her brothers' shadows at Hogwarts. Maybe wit was one thing she had going for her.

Just then, Victoire entered the Great Hall. Dominique scooted over on the bench to make room, but Victoire didn't sit down. Instead, she waited impatiently for the mail, collected a letter from her owl, and hurried back up the staircase.

Lucy leaned over to Dominique and whispered, "Is she alright?"

"Yeah," Dominique said to her pancakes. "It's her seventh year – she's just nervous."

Lucy nodded, thinking maybe it was none of her business anyway.

Dominique finished her breakfast in silence, turning over the past few days in her head, and getting the anxious feeling that this year would start – and end – in secrets.

* * *

_If things seem a little slow, no worries, it will pick right up soon! I'm just setting the scene for some mystery!_

_I'm really looking forward to updating these chapters as frequently as possible. Please continue to review; I'd love to hear your feedback and predictions as to what secrets are being kept, and what will happen next!_


	3. Un-partying and the Completely Un-date

_Chapter Three – Un-partying and the Completely Un-date_

Lily was right; James _was_ the spitting image of his father – and his namesake. Harry didn't exactly _encourage_ James's pranking, but he didn't exactly discipline him on it either. Truth be told, he was usually just impressed. He left it to Ginny to ground James for a week or send Howlers in the mail, but Harry was willing to give his son a little leeway. So much leeway, in fact, that he pretended not to notice when the Marauder's Map went missing from his desk drawer.

Again.

* * *

"So. Here's what I'm thinking. The first Quidditch game of the season is in a month. I say we use the map to sneak out through the way your dad told us about – y'know, the one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy? I say we sneak out, creep into Honeydukes and Zonko's, nip some supplies, and throw the biggest party the Gryffindor house has ever seen after the match." James grinned wildly, the way he did whenever he had a big plan.

"That's considering we win," Fred noted.

James's face fell. "Well, yeah. But what do you think of my party idea?"

"It sounds alright."

"_Alright?_ You don't have any crazy things to add onto it? No bewitched sofas? No firework butterbeer?"

"No, but those _are_ wicked ideas."

"Are you feeling ill? I thought you'd be all over this, but you're kind of being a wet blanket."

"Don't you think it's kind of early to start?" Fred said sheepishly,something James wasn't used to. "It's only the second day of school."

"Too early? Fred, last year we spent all summer coming up with stuff and we started right away! What's up with you?"

"Dunno, J." Fred shifted on the sofa. "Let's talk about something else."

James dropped it. Fred only called him J when something was really bugging him. Despite this, something was wrong with his best friend; he would figure it out eventually.

"So how about Quidditch tryouts? Since you're captain this year."

James coughed. "Yeah. I reckon I'll have them next weekend. I think I know who I want on the team, but we might have a problem finding chasers."

"No one will be as good as Teddy," Fred sighed. "You think Al will finally try out this year?"

James laughed. "Not a chance. I asked him about a million times over the summer; he nearly hexed me."

"Typical. What about –"

Just then, Lily and Hugo entered the common room.

"Hey," Lily said. "Whatcha talkin' about?"

"Quidditch tryouts," James said carefully. "Next weekend."

"Oh. Have you seen Rose?" she said, changing the topic quickly.

"Yeah," said Fred. "She's holed up in the library doing next term's charms homework."

"Very funny," said Hugo. "Do you two think she's acting weird?"

"No, why?"

"We were wondering; we were going to ask her about it. Let us know if you see her."

"Will do."

* * *

Actually, Fred wasn't very far off. Rose _was _in the library, and she w_as_ doing charms homework (though, for next week, not next term), but she _wasn't_ holed up. Well, not by herself, anyway.

"So, what are you doing this weekend?"

Rose looked up from her essay to glare at him.

"Right. Sorry." Scorpius went back to scribbling on the edge of his parchment, trying hard to make it look like he was actually doing work. He'd been able (with difficulty, mind) to get Rose to agree to a study date, but he was pretty sure she'd only heard the "study" part. So that was all they'd done – for two hours. The several times he'd managed to cough out a few non-schoolwork-related words, she'd responded with a question about jinxes, or simply stared sternly at him until he smiled and got the message. At times like this, Scorpius wondered why ever Rose was sorted into Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw with him.

As Rose wrote feverishly, she thought that this was just what she was afraid of. She knew what her mother would say if she let herself get distracted – and by Scorpius Malfoy of all people! She's heard all her life how much she was like her mother, and though she'd never admit it aloud, it was incredibly true. Family and school were tied for first on her mental list of important things in her life, and nowhere on that list did she think that boyfriends would earn a place. And, more than anything, it kind of scared her. Sure, she and Scorpius were friends. Even before that, they were competitors. She remembered their first year, most of which was spent in an intense and ongoing battle to see who was the better dueler, essay writer, potions maker … Of course, things had calmed down since then. They'd even exchanged a few letters over the summer. But the thought of becoming anything more than friends or academic opponents? It was scary, undiscovered, and, for now, she suppressed it with the foolish hope that if she ignored the possibility for as long as possible, it would simply go away. A rather stupid solution for such a clever girl.

Which was why, whenever Scorpius mentioned something that didn't have to do with charms, she tried to pretend she didn't know what he was trying to do. She tried to pretend they were friends writing essays together.

Rose, the girl of things completely factual and completely real and completely un-pretend, was completely out of her element.

* * *

_Woo! How was that for more interesting? Don't worry, this isn't going to be one of those tacky teen romance fics, but how could I pass up a little Rose/Scorpius? _

_You can look forward to some action and wit in the next chapter, which is quite long and all about Quidditch! What do you think will happen next? Please keep reviewing; I appreciate each and every one of them!_


	4. Tryouts and Fallouts

_Chapter Four – Tryouts and Fallouts_

By the end of the week, everyone was back into the usual routine around Hogwarts. At night, the common room was filled with people doing homework, playing exploding snap, and signing up for the trip to Hogsmeade. Classes were beginning to pick up, and no one was surprised to hear that Rose was already studying for exams. James still knew that something was up with Fred, and Lucy didn't drop her suspicions about Victoire, but those matters were kept quiet. Anyway, something else was abuzz among the Gryffindors – Quidditch tryouts.

"I've got a lead on a Chaser," Fred said, loosening his tie and throwing himself beside James on the sofa. "Gwen Darce."

"Oh yeah?" James looked up from his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. "How'd you hear about her?"

"Asked around. She's in my year."

"Any good?"

Fred smiled. "I hear she's quick, small, and played with her brothers all summer."

"Brothers?"

"They're graduated – I asked. But she seems to be pretty good. I invited her to try out this weekend," he added casually.

"Did you?" James raised an eyebrow, a gesture which Fred pointedly ignored. "You talked to her?"

"I did. Strictly Quidditch business, of course."

"Of _course_."

"Just looking out for the team."

"You saint."

"Do you want a new Chaser or not?" Fred said, elbowing James roughly in the ribs.

"Oi, Al," James called to the sofa opposite him. "Reckon I'll see you at tryouts this weekend?"

"Yeah, and I reckon I'll see you knitting Mum a sweater tomorrow."

As Fred rolled over chortling, James snuck a glance at Lily, who was reading _Quidditch Through the Ages_ next to Al. Her eyes flicked up at him, and she looked away quickly, hoping he wouldn't notice.

* * *

Quidditch tryouts, James thought, were, in a word, _stressful. _He knew that being captain would be a lot of work; he'd heard plenty of stories from Uncle Charlie, Teddy, and his dad. He was prepared to train the team and help them get better. He _wasn't_ prepared to deal with the biggest lot of dunderheaded breezeblocks for four hours.

Among the circus of irritants was a knit of first years (many of whom couldn't even fly), a band of giggling girls that didn't even bother to try out, they were "just looking for Al" (James made a note to tease him about that later), and a confused (and quite possibly over-butterbeered) Ravenclaw. Some people could actually _play_, but they were few and far between, including a third year named Alfie with a good arm, and fifth year called Felix who could have made a fair Chaser except that he flew slightly lopsided. Gwen Darce, who turned out to be a petite brunette with fiery eyes and infinite cheek, was actually as good as Fred had said which was thankful, because if one more person asked James "which one the Quaffle was again," he was sure the veins in his neck would start spewing slug ooze. At the beginning of the event, he asked Fred, Roxanne, and Dominique to wait till the end, and he was thanking Merlin he had. He half-paid attention to them flying around as he rubbed his temples and cursed himself for taking on such an excruciating job.

By the time everyone was done, the sun was setting. His stomach growled ferociously and he wondered whether this was worth missing dinner.

"Hey!" he yelled over the crowd. "Hey! Right. Thanks for taking the time to come out today –" The gaggle of girls chirped meanwhile the Ravenclaw tipped over on his side. "Er – anyway – the results will be posted in the common room later. Even if you don't make the team, come out and support us anyway. Here's to a great year!"

The group cheered half-heartedly before fizzling out, leaving a completely exhausted James, his cousins, and the questionable Ravenclaw.

"We'd better take him back to the Ravenclaw tower," Dominique said.

"Yeah, maybe you'll see _Stephen_ up there," Fred mocked, sticking out his tongue.

Dominique rolled her eyes as she and Roxanne helped the Ravenclaw to his feet and carried him away.

"I'm gonna run to the Great Hall and see if I can grab something to eat," Fred said, already getting a head start. "Coming?"

"No, I think I might be sick if I go near another large group of people for a while. I'll meet you later."

"Suit yourself."

James was actually starving, but during the entire audition, he couldn't shake one thing from his head, so he went to the common room in pursuit of the only person he wanted to talk to right then. Sure enough, as he crawled through the portrait hole, he spotted Lily curled on the sofa.

"Hey," he said gently, taking a seat beside her.

"Hey," she echoed quietly.

"You're not eating?"

"Not hungry."

"Me either."

An uncomfortable silence filled the air, something that didn't happen often between them. James and Lily had always been close, ever since she was born. James couldn't stand this – this awkwardness, this secretive feeling, this sneaking around. He didn't even know how to handle the situation, which was stupid. And he'd never admit it, to Lily, to anyone, but he almost felt like a bad older brother. He was supposed to be the one to fix things like this, and she was obviously too scared to talk to him, but he found it hard to do it himself, and he didn't know why.

Lily bit her lip. "How were tryouts?"

"Awful," James said, cracking a grin. "Hardly anyone could play."

Lily laughed lightly.

"Look," James said, turning to face her. "Lily, I-"

"Oi! James!" Fred bounded loudly through the entrance, toting bags that were bursting at the brim. "I've got dinner!"

James groaned. Couldn't he catch a break!? He couldn't even talk to someone for more than five minutes around here!

"Not hungry," he muttered, turning away and trudging up the staircase to his dorm.

Fred stopped in his tracks, arms hanging heavily with the weight of the bags.

"Did I interrupt something?"

* * *

After spending the rest of the night in his dorm, James had time to write up the Quidditch roster (which wasn't difficult, considering what he had to work with). He kept Seeker, of course, Fred and Roxanne stayed Beaters, and he'd signed Dominique, Gwen, and Alfie as Chasers and chose a sixth year named Bertie Brumfle as Keeper. He considered waiting till tomorrow to post the results on the notice board, but then worked out that he probably didn't want to be mobbed by students first thing in the morning. He decided to wait until midnight to be sure the common room was clear before creeping down to post the list. Halfway down the staircase, however, James learned the common room _wasn't_ empty, as raised voices carried from around the bend. He nearly turned round, until he recognized one of the voices.

"If you would just _tell_ me!"

It was Louis.

James scrambled as quietly as he could around the corner, revealing Louis and Victoire standing in front of the fireplace. Louis's back was to James as the crackling flames threw shadows across Victoire's pained face.

"Louis, please, you don't understand."

"Why do you keep sneaking about? Who do you keep sending owls to?"

"Louis-"

"Why is it that I've hardly seen you? Not even during the summer? You know, V, you're my sister. Believe it or not, I miss you, and believe it or not, whatever you're hiding, I want to hear it. Because we're family."

Louis waited as if expecting an answer, but Victoire just stood there, dumbfounded, her mouth in a small "o" and her eyebrows crunched slightly. James thought that, more than anything, she looked hurt.

Impatient, Louis exhaled sharply and stomped up the stairs. James barely had time to shuffle around a corner before they nearly collided. Luckily, Louis was too busy fuming to notice James. After Victoire left (James wasn't sure he heard her crying or not), he finally adhered the roster to the board with spello-tape. But for some reason, he didn't seem to care much about Quidditch right then.

* * *

_Phew! That was pretty intense. If you're feeling bad for the characters, don't worry, they'll get their break soon._

_So, what do you think the deal is between James and Lily? And what on earth in Victoire hiding? Keep the reviews coming!_


	5. Hogsmeade

_Chapter Five – Hogsmeade_

Owing to the events of the past few days, James found it very hard to focus on anything. He could hardly make eye contact with Lily, Fred was unusually quiet, and Louis and Victoire weren't speaking. James was quite certain that he'd bombed his History of Magic test, due to the fact that he kept replaying Louis and Victoire's row in his head rather than focusing on the details of the Salem Witch Trials. With James grumpy and Fred silent, the atmosphere at lunch was, needless to say, quite damp.

"What's with everyone today?" Al said, annoyed.

This didn't seem to help anything in the slightest.

That evening in the common room, James couldn't even bring himself to get excited about the trip to Hogsmeade that weekend, which was what most everyone else was chattering about. Fred had discarded his vow of silence and was chatting with Gwen on the other side of the room and Rose, Al, and Molly were making plans for their first visit to Honeydukes and Zonko's while Lily and Hugo pouted about not being old enough to go. Victoire, Dominique, and Louis where nowhere to be seen, but James figured they were probably not together, given the current state of things.

After Gwen has departed to the girls' dormitory, Fred joined James and said, "You going to Hogsmeade this weekend?"

"Nah." Even though Hogsmeade might have been a good way to cheer him up, James had decided to stay at Hogwarts and practice Quidditch to let off some steam. He also speculated that he might be able to talk to Lily, since she would be staying, but quickly ruled out the idea as he remembered that Louis and Hugo might also be around, and James figured he would probably combust like the backend of a Skrewt if he had to fall victim to another interruption.

"Oh, that's good," Fred said, not paying much attention.

"Why, have you got a date?" James teased, glancing at the direction in which Gwen had left. Fred's ears flushed. "Speaking of which – Al! Do you have a girlfriend yet?"

"_What!?" _Al screeched, his voice raising a few octaves as he nearly fell off his chair. "No! Why?"

"A few girls came asking for you the other day. And by a few, I mean a cult."

"What?" Al repeated, shocked.

"They showed up a Quidditch tryouts, a whole lot of them did. Didn't even bother flying or anything, just came round looking for you."

Al groaned into the seat cushion. "How embarrassing! I don't fly, everyone knows that!"

James's spirit was slightly lifted as Al continued to squirm in humiliation.

* * *

Finally, the day had come. Rose, Al, and Molly twittered in excitement as they buttoned their cloaks and waited in line as role was called for Hogsmeade. Rose tried to keep her back to Scorpius, who was obviously hoping to get her attention from the Ravenclaw line. She felt slightly bad for doing this, but was only too aware of his behavior lately ("Want me to carry those books?" "Care to join me for Wizard Chess, Rose? I might even let you win this time." "Let's do these arithmancy charts together."), so she was sticking firmly to her plan of "ignore it and it will go away," which consequently meant to ignore Scorpius, except that he wouldn't go away, either.

After walking to Hogsmeade in the brisk autumn breeze with the rest of the class, Al, Molly, and Rose broke off to hover outside the shrieking shack (Molly dared James to go inside, which he'd avoided by pretending he'd seen a bilbbering humdinger in the opposite direction, a trick he'd learned from Aunt Luna) before heading to Honeydukes.

The shop was on the verge of bursting as legions of students shuffled out, carrying candy by the masses. Inside was even more spectacular. Shelves of candies that fizzled and steamed, bars of chocolates coated in creamy pink icing and topped with raspberries and nuts, knee-high pots of toffee, and spindles of sugar floss that webbed above like garland were only a few items of interest – and that was just upon first glance. Al surveyed pyramids of chocolate frogs and bathtubs filled with Every Flavor Beans while Molly inspected fist-sized brownies injected with peanut butter and covered in beads of violet frosting and Rose selected from an enormous variety of sugar quills. They bought more candy than they could possibly eat and agreed to share with Lily, Hugo, and Louis.

* * *

As James had predicted, Fred _was_ with Gwen. (The pair had walked down from Hogwarts with Roxanne and Dominique, who had vanished as soon as the group had reached the village.) Talking lightly of Quidditch, they went to Zonko's, where Fred was pleasantly surprised when Gwen frowned at the dungbombs he was about to buy and ducked into the crowd, reappearing moments later with a variety of bombs in her arms. "These here are the _real _gems," she'd said, eyes twinkling with mischief. Afterwards, they went to The Three Broomsticks. As Fred bought them drinks, Gwen told stories about her adventures with her older brothers, to which Fred only half-listened, as he was quite preoccupied with studying the way her lips curled slightly when she spoke.

* * *

That evening, spirits were high in the common room as everyone was full of sweets and the air whirred with Zonko's products. James idly chucked around a Fanged Frisbee that Fred had bought for him, feeling much better after having practiced Quidditch by himself and Al brought him a Chocolate Frog from Honeydukes (the card was his father, something that always managed to make James laugh). The only thing clouding his conscience was Lily – he knew he needed to talk to her, and even resolved to do it that very evening, but she had gone to bed early. James could only hope she wasn't mad at him. He twirled the Frisbee lazily and glanced up at Dominique, who sat opposite him with a strangely satisfied expression.

"Why so smug?" James asked cheekily.

Dominique's ears flamed brilliantly as Roxanne said with an air of scandal, "She had a little _rendezvous _with Stephen tonight at Hogsmeade!"

At this, Louis and Victoire, who seemed to be speaking again, wheeled around and marched over. _"What!?" _

"Look what you've done!" Dominique squealed, slapping Roxanne repeatedly with a copy of _Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6. _

James laughed lightly as hilarity ensued, thinking that maybe the cloud of tension was easing, and things were going back to normal.

* * *

_So sorry for such the delay! I've been quite preoccupied. Thanks for your patience and the views/reviews, please keep them coming; I love to hear what you think will happen next!_

_As you might have seen, I also posted a George/Angelina one-shot entitled "Liar, Liar, Quite on Fire." Give it a look if you please!_

_Also, I'd love some suggestions for while characters you'd like to hear from next! In the sixth chapter there will be more about Rose and Scorpius, and Lily!_


	6. Past and Present

_Chapter Six – Past and Present_

"Rose?"

"Hm?"

"What d'you think this one is?" Scorpius gestured to a rune in the textbook.

"Yes," she muttered faintly.

Scorpius sighed. "There's a hippogriff in your ear."

"That's nice…"

"Rose, you're not even listening to me."

She looked up suddenly from her charts. "Do you realize," she began shrilly, eyes slightly manic, "that we have less than ten weeks before term exams?"

Scorpius grabbed her shoulder before she could continue. "Okay, okay. You've mentioned that about five times. Why don't we take a break?" he suggested gently.

"…okay. Sorry."

"It's alright. Here, you look like you could use this." He pulled a bar of Honeydukes chocolate from his bag and split it in two.

"We're not supposed to have that in here…"

Scorpius grinned. "I guess we're breaking the rules today, then." He held out her half. "Well?"

"Thanks."

They ate in silence for a while.

"Hey," Scorpius said finally. "There's something I wanted to ask you about."

Her eyebrows rose. "Really? What?"

He looked at the table as he said awkwardly, "Are you … have you been avoiding me?"

"What?" Rose said hurriedly. "I – well – no – what gave you that impression?"

"Well, for starters, I had to beg you to let me study with you today."

"Oh-"

"And in Charms last week, you partnered with Rebecca Diggle, but you always partner with me."

"Er-"

"And you wouldn't even _look_ at me in Hogsmeade, I called your name about a million times-"

"Okay, alright. I get it."

"So … are you? Avoiding me, I mean?"

"Well … er …"

Scorpius looked at her expectantly.

She turned back to her work, blinking rapidly as her face strained. "I really need to study right now."

"I see," said Scorpius, crestfallen.

Had Rose been more attentive and less preoccupied with the wave of guilt that had just engulfed her as her quill blotted the parchment, she would have noticed Fred sneaking through the shelves, carrying an armful of books and muttering under his breath.

* * *

In his dormitory that evening, Scorpius was less talkative than usual, and that was saying something. He tried hiding behind his textbooks but found himself reading the same paragraph seven times until he gave up.

"Wassa matter?" said Adam Ackerly, lobbing a pillow into Scorpius's face from his bed.

Adam was a good person, Scorpius knew. When he'd first arrived at Hogwarts, Scorpius didn't exactly receive what one might call a warm welcome (no doubt due to his surname), but Adam has been one of few to befriend him and help change everyone else's mind. In fact, Adam was his best friend, beside Rose. But he couldn't bring himself to say anything to him.

"Nothing," he mumbled, throwing the pillow back over with a little too much force.

Silently, Scorpius undressed and closed the curtains on his four-poster, feeling rather stupid about the whole ordeal. _It's not like she said she hates me, _he reasoned. _She didn't even admit to anything._ But, he thought, maybe that was just it. Maybe her hurried indifference _was _worse than being ignored. Something was bothering her, something about _him_, and it must be bad, or else she'd have told him. Right? He pummeled his pillow, feeling like an idiot. After last year, when they'd really started to become friends … and the summer, when they'd sent owls twice a week … he started to think that … Well, it didn't matter now. Now he had to talk his way into _studying _with her, let alone seeing her outside of school. And at Hogsmeade, the way she'd pointedly avoided him when he was practically shouting after her…

His stomach sank further when he thought of what his father would say if he knew … Scorpius had always got along well with his dad, despite some scandalous (and very false) assumptions. His dad'd never flat-out spoken ill of the Potters or Weasleys to Scorpius, but Scorpius could only imagine what he'd say if he knew how close he was to Rose…

Then, with a lurch in the pit of his stomach, he thought of the instance during the summer…

They had been sitting in the parlor one morning, Scorpius writing to Adam while his father, opposite him, flicked through _The_ _Prophet_. Then, their handsome owl had swooped in, mail in tow. The letters fell on the table and Draco thumbed through them lazily until Scorpius saw it –

"That's mine," he'd screeched, lunging for the envelope – but it was too late. His father had seen the corner, where, in neat script, were written the words _From: Rose Weasley._ In an instant, Scorpius had chanced a glance at his father, whose eyes were glinting strangely, but he hadn't had time to think on it before rushing up to his bedroom, four steps at a time.

Now, as he fidgeted in bed, Scorpius wondered what he'd seen in his father's eyes – it wasn't disappointment, certainly not anger … was it … but no, it couldn't have been … _amusement?_

Scorpius turned over once more, vowing to omit the event from his memory, and never to speak of it with his father unless he asked, which was, thankfully, very unlikely.

* * *

James had been working his team into exhaustion; their first game of the season was fast approaching. Luckily, they were well equipped. It turned out that he'd made the right decisions with the new teammates, who fit harmoniously with Fred, Roxanne, Dominique, and himself. That wasn't their only advantage this year – over the summer, James had received some unbelievably good news…

_"We're donating some new broomsticks for your team this year," his father had said, beaming._

_ "You're joking!"_

_ "Consider it a present for making captain," his mother'd put in._

_ "They're Firebolt 4.0s. I know they're not as good as the sixes, but still decent."_

_ "_Decent?_ Are you kidding? They're amazing!"_

_ "Only one condition," his dad said, winking jokingly. "You have to beat Slytherin."_

So, with this in mind, James felt very confident about their odds this year. There was just one thing…

"You okay?" he said to Fred once the locker room had cleared out.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm good."

"Your flying was a little off today," he added casually, unlacing his shoes.

"Was it?" said Fred distractedly.

James pulled off his robes, eyeing Fred oddly. "Look, we're playing Ravenclaw in just over a week. We really need to be on top of our game."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. But more importantly, is there something bothering you? You've been really out of it lately."

"Don't worry about it," Fred said offhandedly.

But James wasn't so sure.

* * *

The rest of the next week sped by – Quidditch practices were every other night, Rose had taken to holing herself up in the library when she wasn't in class or sleeping, Fred was still behaving strangely, and Dominique was absent from the common room during the evenings (it was widely suspected that she was seeing Stephen, a thought that made Louis stick his tongue out in disgust).

The morning before the day of the Quidditch match, everyone's spirits were high – everyone's, except one.

"What's wrong?" Al asked quietly to Lily, who was scooting bacon around on her plate.

"Nothing," she mumbled.

"Hey," he put a hand on her arm. "You know I won't believe you if you say it like that."

Lily smiled slightly. There were very few things over which Al dropped his cool stature, and she was glad at times like this that she was one of them. He wouldn't show it around everyone else like James would, but private moments like these that made Lily remember how lucky she was to have two brothers that cared about her.

"Well," she admitted, "it doesn't really matter." She glanced quickly at James, who didn't seem to notice.

"If you're sure…"

"Oi!" James called from down the table. "Coming to the match tomorrow Al?"

"No," said Al coolly.

Lily grinned – she knew he was lying. He might not be a Quidditch fan, but Al never missed one of James's games.

* * *

The group blew off the rest of the afternoon, lazing around the grounds, enjoying the weather before it got too cold. Lily and Hugo went with Molly and Lucy to pay Professor Longbottom a visit while Victoire, Dominique, and, strangely, Fred, were nowhere to be seen. That evening in the common room, James made his rounds, shooing all the Quidditch players off to bed before it was even ten o'clock.

The next morning was the "big day," as James reiterated over breakfast. Those who weren't on the team suppressed laughter, as game days always made James a little crazed. He did a head count, circling about – "Roxanne, Gwen, Alfie, Dominique – nice to see you not orally attached to Stephen – Bertie … Merlin's beard!" – (everyone groaned) – "Where's Fred?"

Just then, Fred, dressed haphazardly, shuffled down the stairs and climbed onto the bench, reaching for a hash brown.

"Is that –?" James leaned forward, inspecting Fred's face – "Is that ink on your forehead?"

Fred muttered something that sounded oddly like "fell asleep on a textbook," but James was too preoccupied to notice. He spent the next ten minutes shoveling mountains of food on his team members' plates (though he himself hardly touched a thing) before ushering them to the locker rooms. On the way there, Lily's face kept swimming in his head; he'd seen her sideways glance at him during breakfast. But he didn't have time for hurt feelings now. He'd fix things with her soon enough, but right now he needed to focus.

The team changed into their robes in silence and assembled around James. It took him a moment to remember he was captain, and that they were waiting on him.

"Right," he began. "You know I'm not much of a speech maker. It's out first match. We're a good team. Let's just go out there and do it."

On the way to the field, James put a hand on Fred's shoulder. "Alright there, Fred?" he said quietly.

Fred nodded uncertainly.

* * *

To say it was a good game was a severe understatement. The crowd was on the edge of its seat, eyes darting across the field, trying to keep up. The moment Gryffindor scored, Ravenclaw was always right behind them, with points to match. After nearly an hour, the teams were tied with 120 points each. James was on high alert, scanning the air for any sign of the Snitch - _there! _He saw it, and, zooming forward, started to close in. The Ravenclaw seeker, Tristan Spivey, followed his lead, but James knew his broom was superior. He dove, nearing the golden winged ball. Just then, a beater's bat fell from the air, right into his path. Startled, James swerved, but it was too late – Spivey had reached the Snitch in the time it took James to recover from the fallen bat. He looked up angrily to see who had dropped it, and saw Fred looking down at him, his eyes wide in realization of his mistake.

* * *

The rest of the day was very glum for the Gryffindors; they'd sulked back to the common room and lazed on the couches, trying to forget what had just happened.

James sighed. "Well, I guess it's a good thing we didn't nab all that stuff from Honeydukes after all," he said dejectedly, referring to his old plan. "Would've wasted our time."

Fred laughed nervously. "Yeah, I guess so." He paused, shifting on the sofa. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"What, for today?" James wasn't mad; he knew it was an accident.

"No. Well, yes. I didn't _mean _to drop the bat, of course. But I meant about earlier – when you were talking about pranking … You're not mad about me not wanting to?"

"No. I just wish you'd tell me why you've been so distracted lately – wait," he said slowly. "This has something to do with Gwen, doesn't it?"

"_What_?" Fred yelped, leaping up as though he'd sat on a searing porcupine. "No!"

"I saw you looking at her before the match!"

Fred inhaled and flattened his hair instinctively, sitting down again. "Okay, look. It doesn't have to do with Gwen, but if you just calm down I'll try to explain –"

"What a _bummer_ game," Roxanne moaned, coming through the portrait hole with Gwen.

James hung his head, thinking bitterly that there was no such thing as a private conversation anymore.

Gwen perched on the arm of the chair Roxanne had just dramatically draped herself over. She mumbled something into the cushion.

"What's that?" asked Gwen.

"I said, that would have been a brilliant first match if it weren't for my brother Butter Fingers over here!"

Fred's ears flushed.

"Hey, we all make mistakes," Gwen said fairly. "Though it _was_ really clumsy," she added as an afterthought.

James thought that under separate conditions, had Fred not been in disgrace, Fred and Gwen really would have excellent chemistry, what with Fred's constant wisecracks and Gwen's feisty attitude. He wondered, if it wasn't Gwen that was getting to him – what was?

They were then joined by Al, Rose, Hugo, and Lily, all of whom wasted no time in teasing Fred for his slip-up.

James caught Lily's eye. Now or never, he thought. He beckoned that they go, leaving everyone else bickering behind them.

"Let's go for a walk," he said once they'd left the common room.

The grounds were deserted – everyone was probably celebrating Ravenclaw's victory.

"So," said James.

"So."

He turned to face her, unable to help the words coming from his mouth. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He thought back to that day. It was the weekend before they left for Hogwarts. They were spending the week at their grandparents' house, but no one could find Lily. James went out to the fields to look for her, and sure enough, there she was. Except, she was on a broom. She was using James's set of bewitched tennis balls, which he'd charmed so that they took off like Snitches once thrown in the air. James watched, awestruck, as Lily pitched the balls into the air and glided effortlessly, catching them with incredible ease. It was amazing – like she was born doing it. Of course, he'd played Quidditch with her before, with their cousins, but as he was the Seeker, Lily was always made to play Chaser or Keeper. He'd never seen her fly like _that. _He'd stood there dumbly, watching with his mouth agape. By the time Lily had spotted him he'd tried to pretend he hadn't stood there watching the whole thing, but it was too late – they'd seen each other, and they hadn't said a word of it since.

James jerked back into the present, where Lily was looking up at him sadly.

"You know why."

"But Lily – you were incredible! I don't get why you never said anything. I've never seen anyone fly like that – except dad. Or me," he added.

"You were made captain this year though. It's not like it was do any good anyway. You're Seeker – I can't replace you. It's like asking Rose to give up studying."

She had a point. James wasn't about to give up his spot on the team. She couldn't ask that of him.

"But you still could've tried out," he offered. "I asked you a thousand times over the summer. You've always been a fair Chaser and not a bad Keeper either. I'm sure you would've been allowed; you're a great deal better than most of the people who tried out. We could've arranged something, like what happened with Dad."

Lily smiled faintly. "Look…Quidditch is your thing. You're really good, and everyone knows it. When you leave Hogwarts, I'll have three years to be Seeker. But for now, I think one Potter is all the team can handle."

James was taken aback by how grown-up she sounded – he felt like he was talking to his mother. Suddenly, he felt terrible. How long had he been casting a shadow over her? Did Al feel this way, too, over something else?

"Okay," he said slowly. "Okay, I understand. But I'm making you try out next year." He grinned.

Lily smiled. "Fair enough. I'm sorry I've been avoiding you, I was being stupid. I hate it when things aren't the same between us."

James put an arm around her shoulder and began walking again. "Me too. So, are we normal again? No more meaningful glances, no more untimely interruptions?"

Lily laughed. "Right. Does this mean you can teach me some moves later?"

"Maybe, but I must warn you," he said seriously. "The secret to my success is due to a disease I have."

"_Really?_" Lily gasped, horror-struck.

"Yeah. It's called _I'm-the-best-seeker-in-the-world-itis._"

Lilly shoved him away, giggling madly.

James smiled. He'd missed her.

* * *

_How was that for warm and fuzzy make-up? I know this chapter is crazy long so I hope you guys enjoyed that. Please keep reviewing!_


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